CHAPTER 145: SACRED GROUNDS

The Capital Of Noctis. The Main Tribe. In The Frigid Cold Lands...

"How about him?" Lira nodded lightly in the direction of a lean-muscled Fox elf like her.

"No." Kathelyn replied without missing a beat, making Lira smile wryly, and the old woman seated by the other side of Kathelyn, sigh.

They had been trying for days since she arrived to make her select a man of their tribe of her choosing.

The old woman seated next to her was the ’ancestor’ that received a revelation of her arrival. A revelation that had not gone much into the details of what exactly made her special. The only thing she was able to glean from it was that this ’visitor’ was very important, and very vital to their survival... if she decided to help them.

This was why after the ancestor received news of a strange person in the borderlands, she had ordered that she be brought here, and also elevated her status to be just below hers.

For the few days she had been here, they had tried—with subtlety—to figure out what made her different besides her appearance... but they had failed to find anything of note. And for the first time, a select few— especially those who held powerful seats in the tribe, had begun to doubt the ancestor’s revelation.

The ’visitor’ had not shown any particular unique abilities, and yet she’d been treated like a queen above them...

A whole parade of young, able-bodied fox-elves, had been brought before her during every night feast since she’d arrived. And up till now, she’d been dismissing each and every one of them without batting an eye.

Not only did it wound the pride of the young men, it also did the same for the name of the families they came from.

Did she not know how many fox-elf ladies would give anything to be married into those families?

The ancestor’s goal to marry Kathelyn into their tribe had been met with a stiff response on her part.

While the ancestor did not know what made Kathelyn special, she could tell from her divination that having her bloodline run in the tribe was of great importance. Hence, the bid to get her a suitor.

Lira–the fox-elf lady, who was now Kathelyn’s friend, had just made a move to introduce another male suitor who raised his exquisite wooden goblet of wine in Kathelyn’s direction, when the ancestor shook her head lightly, giving her the signal to stop.

"Kathelyn. You are tired? Will you like to retire to your quarters for the night?" the ancestor asked lightly.

Kathelyn shook her head, "Can I be allowed to sleep around ’the source’

again tonight?"

The ancestor kept silent for a moment, before nodding, giving her permission.

And immediately, Kathelyn stood up to be on her way, along with Lira who accompanied her.

"She is going there again." One of the native fox-elves seated a few tables away from the front, noted as he took a sip from his goblet.

"This is beginning to go too far... A stranger, entering our sacred grounds willy nilly," another one of the fox-elves seethed.

"Has the ancestor finally begun to lose her touch? She says this... girl is our ’savior’ and yet nothing of the sort had been seen so far."

"Lithral, how is ’that’ coming along?" he asked one silent fox-elf at their table. He was lanky, by male fox-elf standards, but to a human, he looked just like a regular, tall man.

"Be patient. It is already in motion. We’ll get to see what she’s made of soon..."

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"Kathelyn... don’t you think you should at least give in a little...? I’m not asking you to select anyone, just try to show more enthusiasm. You’re killing the confidence of every single young male in our tribe." Lira laughed as she and Kathelyn headed towards the source.

Kathelyn simply shook her head. "If I show even that, then they’ll want more. It’s better I just show my true intentions purely. I have no interest in any of them anyway."

They walked the remaining distance in silence, both of them observing the violent blizzard just outside the barrier that shielded the whole city.

Kathelyn was especially thankful for it. The journey to the main tribe had been very arduous and frigid cold for her.

After a point into their journey through the cold wastelands, she had thought they had seen the worst of the cold, and that it couldn’t get any worse than what they were already faced with at the time... but she had been proven wrong yet again.

It got progressively colder the further they went in, making her begin to ponder how the original settlers had even made the journey.

If it wasn’t for the special carriage in which they traveled, she was sure a lot of deaths would have occurred throughout their own journey...

But as they got to the capital of the tribe, immediately they crossed the towering ice walls that served as the gates to the city... They noticed the drastic change in temperature instantly.

It was warm. Little glowing orbs of light lined the ground all around the city, warming the city up and also serving as illumination in the darkness.

The whole city had a magical barrier set in place to trap this heat and keep it in circulation throughout every nook and cranny, ensuring that the average temperature was pleasant.

Kathelyn cast the thought aside as they reached their destination... ’The source.’

Even without being told, one could already feel the effects. The whole area was thick with mana that cleared the mind, sharpening it into focus. It made one feel like they could do anything at all.

The perfect spot for comprehension.

Lira, along with four guards in the distance who had been shadowing them for protection, stopped right where they were, not proceeding any further.

This was a very sacred ground to them, as it was where the ancestor received her revelations from.

Usually, except on a particular day of the year, no other person besides the reigning ancestor could have free access to this place... until now...

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Astrl